Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams | |
|---|---|
_(recropped).jpg) Ndabeni-Abrahams in 2018 | |
| Minister of Small Business Development | |
| Assumed office 5 August 2021 | |
| President | Cyril Ramaphosa |
| Deputy | Sdumo Dlamini Dipuo Peters |
| Preceded by | Khumbudzo Ntshavheni |
| Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies | |
| In office 22 November 2018 – 5 August 2021 | |
| President | Cyril Ramaphosa |
| Deputy | Pinky Kekana |
| Preceded by |
|
| Succeeded by | Khumbudzo Ntshavheni |
| Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services | |
| In office 31 March 2017 – 22 November 2018 | |
| President |
|
| Minister | Siyabonga Cwele |
| Preceded by | Hlengiwe Mkhize |
| Succeeded by | Portfolio merged |
| Deputy Minister of Communications | |
| In office 25 October 2011 – 31 March 2017 | |
| President | Jacob Zuma |
| Minister | |
| Preceded by | Obed Bapela |
| Succeeded by | Tandi Mahambehlala |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2009 | |
| Constituency | Eastern Cape (2009–2019) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Stella Tembisa Ndabeni 30 June 1978 Sakhela, Mthatha Cape Province, South Africa |
| Political party | African National Congress |
| Spouse |
Thato Abrahams (m. 2012–2023) |
Stella Tembisa Ndabeni-Abrahams (born 30 June 1978) is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Small Business Development since 5 August 2021. She previously served as Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies from November 2018 to August 2021. She is a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NWC) of the African National Congress (ANC).
Born in the Eastern Cape, Ndabeni-Abrahams has represented the ANC in the National Assembly since May 2009. She was nominated to the assembly as an activist of the ANC Youth League; she was a member of the league's National Executive Committee from 2008 until 2010, when she fell out with the league's leadership and was expelled in a motion of no confidence. After two years as a committee whip in the National Assembly, Ndabeni-Abrahams was a deputy minister between 2011 and 2018, first as Deputy Minister of Communications and then, from 2017, as Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services. At the time of her appointment in 2011, she was the youngest deputy minister in President Jacob Zuma's administration.
In November 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa promoted her to his cabinet in the newly reconfigured Ministry of Communications. During her tenure in that office, she was reprimanded and sanctioned for violating COVID-19 lockdown regulations by lunching with Mduduzi Manana in April 2020. She was moved to the Ministry of Small Business Development in an August 2021 reshuffle by Ramaphosa. She has been a member of the ANC National Executive Committee since December 2022, and she was formerly a member of the party's Provincial Executive Committee in the Eastern Cape from 2012 to 2022. She is a Deputy Chairperson of the Local Government Interventions Committee and a member of the Economic Transformation Committee of the ANC National Executive Committee.